Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

And was Labor's fiscal plan before the election saving the energy supplement, banking it and spending it? It absolutely was. Is the position now consistent? That is absolutely anyone's guess. But what the member for Jagajaga does is get up here and criticise the government for making a savings measure which Labor has made, banked and already spent. And, in the process of doing so, the member for Jagajaga criticises the fact that the energy guarantee has the capacity to deliver savings each year, from 2020, of up to $115 a year.

Now, the criticism of that is that it's not enough. In fact, Senator Dastyari tried to make that criticism today with a cheeseburger. I understood he was more of a Chinese food aficionado! But the fact is that $115 a year as a potential saving to Australian households is actually significant. It mightn't be significant to members opposite, who prefer Chinese food and fine Chinese restaurants, but a potential $115 saving a year is very significant. It is absolutely significant when you compare it with the potential cost increases in the average electricity bill that will occur if you try to put $66 billion worth of taxpayers' money into subsidising renewables—which members opposite also say don't need subsidisation because they are competitive as it is. (Time expired)

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